Metropolitan Police launch investigation into allegations John Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand

Officers have spent the past few days “assessing” whether to pursue a complaint from a member of the public, who had seen video footage, following the Premier League match at Loftus Road between QPR and Chelsea and on Sunday Oct 23.

It has now been decided that, given the potential seriousness of the matter, a full investigation is required involving interviewing all parties and taking witness statements.

The police have studied hours of videotape of the match after requesting it be handed over by the broadcaster Sky, who had 20 cameras at the game. Terry has vehemently denied making a racist remark to Ferdinand.

In a statement the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were notified of an incident on Sunday Oct 23 involving alleged racial abuse. This is currently being investigated by officers from Hammersmith and Fulham.”

The police investigation will take precedence over inquiries being made by the Football Association, which has now received statements from both players. It would be expected that, by moving matters on, the police may delay the FA’s own findings but it is still hoped that the case might be resolved quickly.

All parties are also acutely aware that Fabio Capello his England squad on Sunday evening for friendly matches against Spain and Sweden.

If the police have not concluded their investigations by then, the FA and Capello will have to decide whether it is in everyone’s best interests if Terry is not selected. However, that course of action might also lead to assumptions about Terry’s guilt. If Terry were charged it is likely to be under the public order act relating to racial or religious hatred.

Ferdinand has submitted his account to the FA, and said he had “strong feelings on the matter”, adding in the statement: “In the interests of fairness and not wishing to prejudice what I am sure will be a very thorough inquiry by the FA, this will be my last comment on the subject until the inquiry is concluded.”

An FA spokesman said it would be inappropriate for the FA to comment until the police have completed their own enquiries.

However, Chelsea fans at their match in Genk chanted: “You know what you are, Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are.”

Newcastle United, meanwhile, have asked police to identify the person who racially abused striker Sammy Ameobi on the social network site, Twitter. It has also emerged that Ferdinand has been ­verbally attacked on the site.

Ameobi retweeted a message to his followers on Monday in which someone had called him a n-----. Ameobi added: “It’s sad some people are still racist these days.”

On Monday night, Ferdinand retweeted messages of support for his stance on the Terry allegations, but also reproduced a racist comment directed at him from someone purporting to be a Chelsea supporter. The tweet, repeating what Terry is alleged to have said, read: “RT [retweet] this you ------- black ----, 1 England captain.”

The accounts from which the comments were made have now been shut down, but Newcastle are determined to pursue the matter.

The club asked police to discover the identity of the account holder so legal proceedings could begin. A statement read: “Newcastle United are aware of a ­racist remark that was directed towards Sammy Ameobi via Twitter on Sunday evening. The club and Sammy have reported the matter to the police, who are now dealing with the incident.

“The racist comment is wholly unacceptable. Newcastle United will not tolerate racism of any kind and will take the strongest possible action against those responsible.”